Cable winding apparatus



Jun 15, 1937.

J. F. KESSLER 2,083,954

CABLE WINDING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 5, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet l 37 38 40 37 Invenioz:

June 15, 1937. J. F. KESSLER CABLE WINDING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 3; 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor.-

Patented June 15, 1%37 UNETEE earsn r orrics Application December 4 Claims.

This invention is an improvement in cablewinding apparatus of the type used in connection with motor trucks, or the like. A more specific feature contained herein applies to that type of winding drum intended to be power-driven, both for hoisting a load and lowering the same; the source of power for so driving the drum may be derived from the truck engine by any suitable power take-off mechanism which includes selecii tive means to drive said drum in either direction of rotation.

The invention will be more readily understood by the following description of one embodiment thereof and reference to the accompanying drawings. The scope of the invention, however, will be evident from the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is an end view, partly in section, of my improved cable-winding apparatus, showing the mechanism for driving the drum in either direction of rotation;

' Fig. 2 is a vertical section on line of Fig.

1, showing the drive shaft and associated ele-- ments;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of Fig. 1 viewed from the left thereof; and

Fig. 4 is an end view of my improved casing, taken on line l-i of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, I have shown, in Fig. 1, a drive shaft 5, formed integral with a conventional worm t, adapted to receive and be supported by suitable bearings i and 3. It should be noted that said shaft is made symmetrical each side of its middle dimension and is therefore reversible, end for end, in case of wear at a given point; this also eliminatesany confusion in assembly, or in reassembly. A driven sprocket 9 may be keyed to one outer end of shaft 5 to impart rotation thereto in either direction, said 40 sprocket being driven from any suitable powertake-oii having reversible mechanism associated therewith.

The bearings, l and 8, are preferably supported Within a bore ll! of the one-piece housing l i arg: ranged to support a drum shaft ii; upon which is mounted a conventional cable-winding drum i3, fixedly keyed thereto in any well known manner. A worm gear l-i, suitably keyed to drum shaft i2, is arranged to mesh with worm 6 and be driven thereby in either direction, according to whether the load is to be raised or lowered.

The outer end of drum shaft 62 may be suitably mounted in bearings supported by an end cover plate l5 which may be secured to housing ii as by bolts I6.

3, 1935, Serial No. 52,638

In common practice, this housing has been made in at least two parts, divided at the shaft axis and bolted together in assembly. This old method involved expensive machine work to manufacture and assemble. My improved housing is made in one piece, comprising a semicircular chamber ll, arranged to contain the worm gear Id. The transverse bore Iii is arranged to require slight machine work and is also symmetrical at each end. The shaft i2 is journaled in a bearing, l8, which is provided with reinforcing ribs l9, extending radially therefrom as shown in Fig. 4. Ribs 253 are arranged to brace the chamber l! relative to the casing of bore it, this being the direction of strains due to the driving action of shaft 5. The lower portion of housing ll may be provided with mounting flanges 2! at each side thereof, these flanges being braced by arched ribs 22 as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. These flanges 2! may be secured to a pair of angle irons 23 which extend forward to the opposite end of drum is, (not shown) and connected to the shaft support at that point also. This novel housing arrangement also permits of easy and rapid access to gear it, and associated parts, by removal of bolts it.

The outer ends of bore ill may be suitably closed by flanged members 24 and 25, the former being secured to housing III by bolts 26, and the latter being clamped to said housing by elongated bolts 21, arranged to also support and position a cover element which encloses an automatic brake mechanism. This automatic brake comprises a. ratchet disk 28 secured to worm shaft 5 by means of a key 29, Fig. 2, and therefore made to rotate with said shaft at all times; This ratchet 28 is encircled by a cooperating ring element 36 having a flange 3i, (Fig. 1), positioned adjacent the inner face of said ratchet disk. A cooperating ring member 32 is secured toelement 30 by bolts 33 to retain the latter in position relative to ratchet 28 and also provide housing means for a series of roller pawls 34 which are arranged to function in chambers 35 to provide a driving con nection, in one direction only, between disk 28 and ring element 30 in the usual manner. The ratchet disk 28 is locked against movement lengthwise of the shaft by a shoulder thereon and a disk bolted to the end thereof.

The periphery of ring element 38 presents a braking surface which is substantially surrounded by a brake-band element 36 provided at its under side with out-turned ends 3'! adapted to receive a retaining bolt 38 operable to maintain a desired degree of frictional contact between the brake-band and ring element 30. The brakeband 36 is locked against rotation by two fixed studs 39 and 40 which are threaded into housing ii and have their outer ends supported by entrance into a brake-cover member 4| which in turn is secured to said housing by the elongated bolts 21, above mentioned. The stud 40 is arranged to guide retaining bolt 38 and thereby permit flexing of brake-band 36 for adjustment. The principle of aworm and gear mechanism is generally believed to provide a self-locking drive which will prevent rotation of the worm by application of power to the gear. However, it is a known fact that a worm, which has been subjected to considerable Wear, will yield to pressure transmitted by a gear keyed to aheavily loaded winding drum, thereby permitting the load to unwind the drum whenthe'op'rating lever is in neutral position, This difiicultyhas presented a dangerous condition and'my novel device provides automatic means to remedy it, thereby eliminating accidents due to careless operation or failure of manually operatedbrakes. Operdtion.-Refer1"ing to Fig. 1, it will be clear that sprocket wheel 9 is intended to be rotated in a clockwise direction, as viewed from the right, thereby imparting counter-clockwise rotation to winding'd'rum l3 whereupon a cable 42 may be caused to raise a load in the usual manner. Ratchet disk 28, Fig. 2, will also be rotating clockwise and roller pawls 34 will remain seated at the large end of their respective chambers and therefore do not function as a clutch; hence, ring element 30 remains stationary and does not function during the cable-winding, or load raising operation.

Having raised the load to a desired level the operator must then shift the control lever to neutral position, either to hold the load in, Suspension for a given time, or, to shift into reverse motion of the worm shaft to lower the loadl In either event, the control lever must pass through, or into, a neutral position thereof while the load on cable 42 is suspended. Under conditionsheretofore mentioned the worm gear l4 will be caused to rotate in a'clockwise direction (Fig. l), and impart counter-clockwise rotation to shaft 5, Fig. 2, whereupon roller pawls 34 will instantly function as a clutch and attempt to impart similar rotation to ring element 30; however, brakeband 3.6 will prevent such rotation of ring ,30 and therefore counter-clockwise rotation of worm shaft 5 underthe influence of a suspended load. It should be clearly understood that the frictional contact between ring element 30 and brake-band 3B is merely sufiicient to overcome the tendency of shaft 5 to be rotated by a suspended load, as described. The operator may later apply power to rotate shaft 5 in a counter-clockwise direction to lower the load and thereby overcome the frictional resistance effected by brake-band 35, which is so slight that no appreciable degree of heat is generated thereby.

This arrangement of mechanism provides an automatic safety device which is positive in action, inexpensive to produce, and easily accessible for adjustment or repairs, due to the improved housing employed to support the driving mechanism.

I claim:

1. In hoisting apparatus having a winding drum arranged to be power-driven to raise and lower a load, a reversible worm shaft arranged to drive the winding drum, a brake-band member arranged concentric to the worm shaft and fixedly mounted against rotation, a rotatable ring element arranged to be frictionally engaged by said .brakerband, and means carried by the worm shaft arranged to automatically rotate said ring element in that direction which will release cable from the winding drum.

2. In hoisting apparatus having a winding drurn arranged to be power-driven to raise and lower a load, a supporting shaft for said winding drum having a driving connection therewith, a worm gear drivingly connected to the supporting shaft, a reversible wormshaft for operating the worm gear, means to prevent longitudinal movemerit of the worm shaft, a one-way clutch unit arranged concentric to said worm shaft adapted to be operated by rotation thereof, a substantially smooth braking surface presented by said unit, a braking element arranged to engage said surface at all times, a casing member arranged to conceal said one-way unit, and means associated with the casing member adapted to maintain said braking element in operating position.

3. In hoisting apparatus having a winding drum arranged to be power-driven toraiseand lower a load, a supporting shaft for said winding drum having a driving connection therewith, a worm gear drivingly connected to the supporting shaft, a reversible worm shaft'for operatingthe worm gear, means to prevent substantial longitudinal movement of the worm shaft, a oneway clutch unit arranged concentric to said worm shaft adapted to be operated by rotation thereof, a substantially smooth braking surface presented by said unit, and fixedly mounted means arranged to engage said braking surface at all times in a predetermined and normally invariable degree, for the purpose set forth.

4. In hoisting apparatus having an exposed winding drum, a drum sup'porting-and-driving shaft, a worm gear drivingly associated with said shaft, a worm shaft arranged to drive the worm gear, a one-piece housing arranged circumjacent the worm gear and said worm shaft, said housing forming a semi-circular chamber circuni scribing the worm gear and presenting a bearing adjacent the winding drum for said supporting shaft, there being an opening at the opposite side of the housing arranged concentric to said supporting shaft, and a removable plate member arranged to seal said opening and provided with a bearing for the free end of the supporting shaft JOSEPH F. KESSLEB. 

